


Family

by Calljacobfryeyourdaddy



Category: Gintama
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 19:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6092257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calljacobfryeyourdaddy/pseuds/Calljacobfryeyourdaddy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 1: Gintoki has been missing for 4 years now. And on his birthday there's no one in the Yorozuya office to celebrate it, except for the two former Yorozuya family members who miss their leader more than ever.</p><p>Part 2: The Yorozuya family reunited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yorozuya and Its Celebrations

The sky was clear and the pale moon lazily faced the depressing town of Edo. A pair of black boots slowly but steadily walked down Kabukicho's empty streets. The person stopped, still facing the road ahead of him, and after a long moment looked at the building on his right. The sign read "Yorozuya Gin-chan". It looked old and worn-out, as if no one bothered to clean it up for a long time. He did not intend to come here, but somehow his feet lead him here while he was in deep thought. The person fixed his glasses, sighing in the process, and headed up the stairs to the second floor. He did not bother knocking on the wooden doors and let himself in.

As he looked around the abandoned room his eyes caught a silhouette of a person sitting on the chair behind the desk and facing the window. Moonlight poured in through it and lit the face of the girl sitting there, but it wasn't visible to Shinpachi. However he did not need to think for even a moment to know who the silhouette belonged to; he expected the least and most for her to be here. He stared at her silently.

"Why did you come here?" came a question from the girl with the not-so-interested tone.

Shinpachi did not answer for a long minute.

"I could ask you the same question, Kagura".

The girl's shoulders seemed to have flinched for a second at his question. Her response took even longer.

"It's none of your business". After saying that in a cold tone Kagura stood up from the chair and walked around the table. Her custom-made white kimono with the trademark pattern of Gintoki's clothing on its hem gracefully swayed from her movements.

She stood before the table facing Shinpachi but not quite looking him in the eyes. Her vermilion red bangs hid hers. Shinpachi watched her every movement, and now waited for her to say something. His expression remained serious and focused.

"Shinpachi," her voice was quiet this time. "Can you please say that we came here for the same reason, because we miss him?"

Her voice was shaky this time. This behaviour and tone were unusual of Kagura, a girl so strong thanks to her blood and countless battles she's been in. But Shinpachi was not stupid, he knew exactly why this strong and confident girl who always stands brave against her opponents and knows how to be genuinely witty, looked so fragile and broken right now. Today was a special day, but not exactly for good reasons. Sakata Gintoki was born on this day. And it has been four years since he had gone missing never to return. There were no celebrations and the Yorozuya office had remained as quiet and grey as usually.

"Shinpachi, please," the girl's voice was even quieter now. Her shoulders started trembling and Shinpachi noticed a couple of tears slowly run down her pale cheeks as she still allowed her hair to cover her eyes.

He hated seeing women cry, but seeing Kagura, who had once been as close to him as his own sister, cry was insufferable. He felt a painful lump appear in his throat.

He lowered his eyes and slowly approached Kagura and stopped in front of her. Even though they have both grown considerably, he was still taller than her. He could see the top of Kagura's head which was lowered even more, as more bitter tears fell onto the floor and on his boots. She was shaking even more now, and her form seemed more vulnerable than ever. She took a very small step and put her forehead on his now broad shoulder. Shinpachi felt warmth from her body standing so close to his. He lifted both of his arms and gently held her shoulders.

Who was he lying to? Even though he desperately tried to not run into this person on the streets of the city, and could barely stand the sight of her when they did meet by chance, and even though they exchanged nothing but mean remarks with each other during their encounters and did not bother checking up on each other – they were once part of a family; a family with bonds so strong they could overcome any mishaps and hardships. They were both suffering on their own, too afraid to face the pain of their loss openly, and their repeated attempts to avoid each other signified nothing other than that. And now this once energetic, witty girl with a huge appetite was helplessly broken beyond repair, just like himself. Kagura didn't openly cry, but quietly sobbed into his shoulder while the lump in Shinpachi's throat became even harder to bear.

"Yes, we're both here because we miss that excuse of a leader," he said with forced humour in his voice which made Kagura break out in an unexpected laughter but had immediately turned into loud crying as she pressed her face even deeper into Shinpachi's shoulder. Now he couldn't take it any longer either, he lowered his head and tears ran down his cheeks too. He didn't dare cry loudly, not because of pride, but rather because he believed that Gin-san wouldn't feel proud of them for moping around like that in his absence had he entered the Yorozuya office right now. Not that he had any hopes left for that matter…

Shinpachi's grip on Kagura's shoulders tightened as he desperately fought back the growing pain in his chest and so did Kagura as she came even closer to his body and pressed her wet face into him.

The next moment he heard the wooden doors slide open and both of them had a glimpse of something flicker in their eyes and hearts. A question flashed in both of their minds: "Could it be…?".

Their eyes identified figures of three people at the door and something very bright in front of them. Upon focusing his vision better, Shinpachi recognised the faces of Otose-san, Catherine and Tama. They were all wearing their night gowns and warm layers upon those. Otose had a faint smile on her lips as she held what Shinpachi identified as a cake with a burning candle on it.

"Well why are you two moping around in his absence?" came a question from Otose as she entered the room and looked at both of them. At this point Shinpachi heard a loud whimper from behind and saw Kagura quickly cover her mouth at the realisation of what she had just done and, with her eyes facing the floor, couldn't help more tears rapidly running down her cheeks and onto the floor. Shinpachi wasn't shocked; they both had the same sensation, the same frail hope flashed through both of their minds. Having that hope rise so high in their hearts and immediately break into pieces was a strong blow, and it was when he tried to reach out once again to Kagura to support her, he realised his eyes were terribly blurry from his own tears.

Meanwhile, Otose, followed by Catherine and Tama, walked to former Yorozuya's leader's desk and lifted the cake in front of the two crying young people.

"That guy, he would never want to see you two like this. He would rather much prefer you biting into this sweet cake with smiles on your faces," said Otose-san with now the same sorrowful face.

"No, he'd want to be the first one to bite into it," came a now cheerful response from Kagura. She was now wiping away the moisture from under her eyes and had a smile on her lips.

Everyone, including Shinpachi, brightened up a bit upon hearing her words. They all looked at the single burning candle holding the same one face in their minds. Together they blew the candle and shouted: "Happy Birthday, Gin-chan!", Kagura's voice coming out the loudest and the most joyous.

That night in Kabukicho, Yorozuya Gin-chan was the only building with its lights on and full of merry people celebrating and eating a cake as the moon continued gracing the empty cold city of Edo.


	2. We Will Meet Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in the end of the Be Forever Yorozuya movie, the Yorozuya family meet again.

Kabukicho was unusually sunny and bright today. The atmosphere was strange, maybe happy even? Or maybe it mostly felt like that to one young man running down the street? Almost running out of breath but with a grin stretching from one ear to the other, Shinpachi ran to one and only place with all his might. His feet were barely supporting him by now, as he had started running right from the door of his house and hasn't stopped to catch his breath even once. As soon as he woke up, he discovered his sister Otae healthy and safe in their dojo and he gave her the biggest hug he could manage despite not being so touchy with her before. Otae smiled and only for today did not mind his brother's sentimentality, because today was a special day.

Yes, today would be the day they meet again. Shinpachi finally reached the building, and without even looking up at the sign that read "Yorozuya Gin-chan" on the second floor, he knew the location of this place perfectly well.

He put his hands on his knees and caught his breath, sweat dripping down his neck. He then corrected his glasses and looked up at the second floor. Shinpachi held his breath and slowly went up the stairs. What if this was only a dream? He had fears and hesitations; would this have a happy ending? Would their long story end well? No, he had no time to think about those things. Now he had to slide the door open and see it all for himself.

He took a deep breath and opened the door in one push and entered. His mind was becoming a haze while his eyes frantically searched inside the room as he took more steps into the room. He was afraid, but his eyes wouldn't give up. He reached the Yorozuya office room and stood by the sofas looking around. His eyes caught something white - white, big and fluffy.

'Sadaharu!' he shouted with joy and ran to hug the big animal which had also given a loud bark and jumped at Shinpachi. He pet him as he was licked by the giant dog, but today he didn't mind. Just today he didn't care how wet his face might get from those licks.

'Shinpachi!' he heard a very familiar voice calling for him. He was too scared to turn around, scared that this might not be a reality. But he forced himself, he couldn't lose everything again. He wiped his face on his sleeve, turned around and saw the girl he knew so well in her red dress running at him. He stood up and without his realisation his mouth became an even bigger smile due to his excitement. Kagura stopped right in front of him, with the same smile on her lips – her white teeth showing all the way. She was breathing hard just as he did from their exhilaration. They didn't hug often, so Shinpachi was unsure of how to express his joy at seeing this girl again. But he desperately wanted to touch her to make sure she was real, though before he could follow his own thoughts Kagura lashed at him and hugged him tight.

'You're real! Shinpachi, you're real! We're both really here!' exclaimed the girl as she wrapped her arms tighter around Shinpachi's neck pressing their bodies together. He was taken aback by this gesture but quickly regained himself and realised: why hold back? Why hold back now when he had his precious friend back? Then he hugged her too.

'Kagura-chan, I'm so happy to see you!' he finally said, his true feelings expressed at last. They both had tears form in their eyes as they thought of how hard it was for both of them when they thought they had lost someone so precious; the pain of waiting for someone for five years without knowing whether they were dead or alive. They would never be able to forget those days of loneliness and pain of losing their leader. Why did they ever think that suffering alone was an option? No, from now on, he would never abandon her or Sadaharu. He would treasure every single moment spent in Yorozuya!

'Oi, why are you two moping around in my absence?' came a voice from the door.

Both Kagura and Shinpachi opened their eyes and slowly looked at each other. As if mentally confirming with each other that they both heard that voice, and that they would both overcome their fear and face that voice whether it was real or not, they mentally nodded to each other and faced the direction of the door.

It felt like their hearts stopped for one long second as they took in the image of who was standing there. Yes, it was a strong tall figure of none other than their Gin-chan! His had his giant toothy grin on, and as soon as they came back to their senses they jumped at him almost knocking him down to the floor. He caught them mid-air and pulled them both into his broad arms. Sadaharu ran up to him too and was breathing loud with his tongue hanging out waiting to be invited, and sure enough Gintoki pulled his head into the tight hug as well.

'Gin-chan!'

'Gin-san!' they both shouted in unison and snuggled their heads into his chest.

They all shared their warmth with each other, and had never felt more comfortable and safe before, including Gintoki himself. Their nightmare was over; they overcame it all together, just like Yorozuya always does.

'I'm home,' were Gintoki's only words that sounded more content than ever and their hug became even tighter as widest grins graced the lips of all of them.

Yes, the Yorozuya family was united again and will be together forever.


End file.
